Ariadna gets bikes! The first bikes for Ariadna come in the form of this awesome USARF Maverick. You can take up to 5 in the Sectorial, and they can be Specialists (Forward Observer), run around with Rocket Launchers, or wield a Boarding Shotgun like this little lady. This particular Maverick can only be had as part of the USAriadna Army Pack.

The rocks on the bases were first painted the same as the ground, and then glazed with P3 Cryx Bane Base and Black, leaving some of the reddish-tan showing through in places. Then they were highlighted with Cryx Bane Highlight <> VMC Ivory 005. The grass tufts are by Army Painter.

July 30, 2015

The Dismounted Maverick is a special edition miniature, only available if you pre-ordered the USAriadna Army Pack. You have until August 2nd to pick her up, or get her right now at GenCon!

She would make a nice HVT for your USAriadna force, or fills in perfectly as an USARF Grunt Forward Observer!

Brown straps, holsters and armor plates found throughout these USAriadna models were painted P3 Gun Corps Brown, then shaded with Battlefield Brown and a mix of Battlefield Brown and Exile Blue. They were then highlighted with Beast Hide and lined with RMS Brown Liner. Final edge highlights were applied with VMC Khaki 115 + Iraqi Sand 124, and pure Iraqi Sand.

The Marauders can form a traditional Link Team, and they also have the ability to form a second Haris Fireteam. So many Heavy Flamethrowers, and a great Lieutenant option for USAriadna.

The desert bases are new resin bases by Warsenal, "USAriadna Bases," designed by the man, Angel Giraldez, himself!

I painted them with VMC Light Brown 129, highlighted with Tan Yellow 122. They were then given a wash of P3 Bloodstone. I reclaimed highlights with Tan Yellow, and further highlighted with Iraqi Sand 124 and Ivory 005. I added shading and lining with VMC Cavalry Brown 137, and then added tones with P3 Cryx Bane Base by thinning it down and applying translucent glazes.

The Hardcase Frontiersman with tactical bow was a July release, so is already readily available and does not come as part of the USAriadna starter army pack.

The blue seen here on his "Freedom Shoulder" and in various other details on this army was based with VMC Prussian Blue 051, highlighted with Ultramarine 055 <> White. Shading was applied with Dark Prussian Blue 050.

Continuing the tradition set forth with the new PanOceania and Nomads starters from Operation: Icestorm, the third basic infantry model in the USAriadna starter is a cute female trooper.

And a family shot of the USARF Grunts:

The bases for these models are a brand new product from Warsenal: Comanche Bases! Just like their Tunguska bases, they are layered acrylic rounds that you can mount atop a standard gaming base. These match the textures of their Comanche terrain line! Super sweet!

I added some fine sand to help tie them in with the badlands style bases of the rest of the army.

This second basic infantry for the USARF has a wicked cool balaclava and sunglasses.

The weapons and boots were first painted black, then VMC Black Grey168, leaving the black in the cracks, recesses, and shadows (so Black Grey becomes the "main color." It still reads as black, but allows you to add shadows with black - since you can't add shadows to pure black, of course!).

They were then highlighted with Dark Grey 166, Neutral Grey 160, and Light Grey 155 with some very tiny final highlights of white on the sharpest edges.

The Grunts are the basic line Infantry of the USARF. Whereas most factions have ARM 1 Light Infantry as their core troops, the USARF has these ARM 3 Medium Infantry as theirs, for only 10 points. So good!

BTK is an homage to Full Metal Jacket's "Born To Kill" (which is too much to write on such a tiny head!).

To add a little subtle variety to all of the Green throughout the army, I glazed different portions with different colors to tint them. "Hard" parts like armor and helmet were glazed with VMC Brown Violet 093. Pouches and packs were glazed with P3 Battlefield Brown.

Foxtrot Rangers will be the key to success in ITS missions with USAriadna - they are Camouflaged Infiltrators, and there is a Forward Observer Specialist option. You can take up to 4, and I will! Here is the new model from the starter set.

The primary color of the entire army, and certainly of this monochrome dude, is the green used on the fatigues and the armor. Here is how I painted it:

Base coat with VMC Luftwaffe Camo Green 086 (airbrush). Airbrush highlights from above with Luftwaffe + Golden Olive 079, then Golden Olive + Sunny Skintone 020, and again adding Ivory to the previous mix (if it got too "yellow" at this point, I would add back in a drop of Luftwaffe). Any "hard" parts like armor plates got a final airbrushed highlight of White.

Everything was dark-lined with Military Green 089 using a very good brush with a sharp point. Military Green was also used to glaze in shadows, and these darker parts were lined with RMS Green Liner. Edge Highlights were applied using the same mixes as the airbrush highlights, primarily the Golden Olive + Sunny Skintone + Ivory + a drop of Luftwaffe mix.

To keep things consistent, I mixed small batches of the mixed highlight colors in spare eyedropper bottles.